Tejada 1

Edgar Tejada, 902588895

TA: Stephen Zappitello

Partner: Mark Young

Chemistry 1310, D04

20 October 2009

Lab 7 Post-Lab

The experiment has a two fold-purpose: to give us an understanding of why molality is a

better measurement of concentration under given conditions, and a validation of Vant Hoff. We

began the initial portion of the experiment by finding the freezing point of “pure,” diluted water

within a test-tube that we put in a very cold salf-water bath. Our measured results proved to be

very close to 0 C with a CBL2/TI , but not quite, since it can be assumed that not all ions in

distiled water are eliminated. The second portion of the experiment involved us adding a fixed

amount of an unknown substance into our test-tube, which we also stirred in our cold, salt-water

ice bath. As expected, the unknown substance did change the freezing point of the solution,

which we recorded with the CBL2/TI. Most of our results were as predicted, but some of our

solution runs did deal with the issue of “supercooling,” in which case the actual point of freezing

had to be approximated. It is also acknowledged that for the third portion of the experiment, my

partner and I miscalculated the actual amounts of MgCl2 we were supposed to add for I and II.

However, while we seemed to accurately obtain values for pure water and our solutions, and

came very close to the mass of Urea, which I concluded is our unknown substance.

Topic 1
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A student failed to dissolve all the solute before measuring the freezing point of the solution.

a. Will the freezing point depression, ΔT, be larger or smaller than if all the solute was

dissolved? Explain your answer.

b. Will the calculated molar mass of the unknown be larger or smaller than one calculated

from complete dissolution? Explain your answer.

1A) The freezing point depression will be larger if all of it was dissolved, because the

concentration will be correct and the particles evenly distributed around the solution. This means

that the solution will have the correct molality needed to sufficiently change the freezing point.

1B)

Topic 2

One mole of two different compounds happens to weight the same, but one compound ionizes in

water and one does not. Which will give the lowest freezing point depression? Explain.

2A) The compound that has ionized will have the lower freezing point, its freezing point

depression will be greater too. This is because of the Van't Hoff number which is greater than 1.

If the compound does not ionize the Van't Hoff number is 1 giving a smaller change in freezing

point, meaning that the solution will hold fewer kinds of particles meaning then that the lowest

freezing point depression will come from the one that does ionize.

Topic 3

Explain why molality is used in lieu of molarity for colligative property measurements.

3A) Molality is used instead of molarity because molality depends on Kg of a solvent, which,

ignoring speeds near C, remains constant. Molarity, on the other hand, depends on the volume of

a solvent, which in turn depends on the given temperature and pressure, all of which makes

molarity more variable.

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Topic 4

Explain the significance of the supercooling region in the plots illustrated above.

4A) The super cooling region is the area where the temperature is so low that the readings

compromised. Since the liquid does not become solid in the supercooling region the readings

continue to fall and become colder, when the state changes the temperature rises up to the normal

temperature of ice (closer to 0 degrees Celsius) .

Topic 5

How could the vapor pressure be calculated for the solution in Part B. of the experiment.

5A) The vapor pressure of a liquid is the equilibrium pressure of the gas molecules of that liquid.

The amount of evaporation will depend on the temperature, not on the amount of liquid present.

If an aqueous solution is placed in place of pure water its equilibrium pressure will be less than

that of pure water. Raoult's law states that the vapor pressure of the solvent over the solution is

proportional to the fraction of solvent molecules in the solution. So using this we can calculate

the vapor pressure of the solution.